Marvel comics is to release ?motion comics?, hybrids of traditional comics and digital animation, through the iTunes website. X-men and Spider-woman will be the first titles to come out in the new format, which will also replace speech bubbles with audio accompaniment.
The ?motion comic? format is creating a buzz among the comic book community. Unlike previous animated versions of classic comic books, motion comics will animate the original artist’s drawings.
?It became evident to me that as technology moves forward, there will come a day where we'll be able to not just create animation based upon our comic books take existing comic art, the flat, static art, and animate it," says Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.
"So now we can put out a product that is not quite a comic book and not quite animation, but a wonderful hybrid that incorporates all of our great talents."
The new format is expected to lend itself well to the iPhone or iPod Touch and the comics will, at least initially, be bound to the devices.
Marvel has not revealed a release date of price information. Marvel’s project builds on the success of the comic book industry in establishing itself on new distribution platforms and devices. Marvel’s animated series and traditional comics are already available through iTunes.
StrategyEye's related categories: Animation/CGI Studios, Mobile Phones & PDAs, Media Playback Software, Portable Media Players
StrategyEye's related companies: Apple, Inc., Marvel Entertainment
